February 26/99

Edna Sakata
Manager, Media Production Services

After all these years, I still haven’t quite figured out all my job functions. My
main task is to manage a cost-recoverable department of six to seven employees
who provide a wide range of instructional and non-instructional media materials.

In 1967, I graduated from UBC with a bachelor of science in nursing. My career
was put briefly on hold when I had my son and daughter. After several years of
nursing, I decided to follow my dream of working in a more creative environment
and enrolled in Capilano College’s two-year Media Resources diploma program.
After graduating, I was offered a temporary job at the College working as an audio
visual producer in the Media Production Centre. I consider myself a lifelong learner
and have taken several technical training courses which assist me in my present
role.

The greatest challenge facing me in the NMC is to figure out which new media is
to be the flavour of the month and then to prepare the department to provide new
services while maintaining our traditional services to students and to College
departments.

The Centre’s greatest benefit to me is that it expands my exposure to expertise in the other departments within the NMC.
What I see as the greatest benefit to the College is the opportunity to provide a more complete and more efficient service.

Within five years, I would hope to see the NMC evolving into a virtual department so that I will be able to work from
home, from Bali, Dalian, Buenos Aires, Whistler, or... .

Giving me the greatest pleasure these days is learning to golf and visiting my three-and-a-half-year-old grandson.

David DeMuynck
Program marketing supervisor, Community Relations

My main job functions include marketing and promotions consulting.

I started with Capilano College in 1990 as a public relations assistant. I have an
education in public relations and business communications and have worked in
public relations and marketing for the private sector, municipal government and
post-secondary education. My area of specialization has focussed on the print
media, although I’ve always had an interest in advancing to the next level —
broadcast media. (The closest I’ve come to that involved my first job upon arriving
in Vancouver — working as an extra on McGyver. I was the guy following Richard
Dean Anderson in his signature yellow truck.) The arrival of Web technology has set
the stage for this transition, as the lines between print and electronic become
increasingly blurred.

Technological changes that affect us occur at a rapid pace. It will be a challenge
to stay at the leading edge and maximize the benefits of emerging technologies.
Success will largely depend on our efforts to embrace new ways of doing what has
always been done.

The greatest benefit of the NMC to me is the opportunity to pursue something
that I am genuinely interested in; being involved in a project in its initial stages and having the opportunity to shape its
future. The greatest benefit to the College is the opportunity to lead change instead of merely responding to it.

It’s hard to say what I see the NMC evolving into within the next five years. Much of what we’ll be doing then has yet to
be imagined. That’s what makes it truly exciting.

Volunteer work gives me the greatest pleasure these days. Contributing time, support, and expertise to community
organizations. It’s highly rewarding — I can’t recommend it enough!